This post marks the first post in what aims to be a regular feature of The Juvenile Instructor, “From the Archives.” Each post will feature an interesting quote or entry from an early LDS journal, periodical, sermon, or letter. This first installment features Wilford Woodruff’s journal entry for May 15, 1842. At this time, Woodruff was in Nauvoo, Illinois working as editor of the Times & Seasons.
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Vengance is mine. I will repay saith The Lord.
May 15th 1842 Sunday True information has just reached us that the Noted Governor Boggs of Missouri who By his orders expeled ten thousand Latter Day Saints, Has just Been assassinated in his own house & fallen in his own Blood. Three Ball wer shot through his head two through his Brains & one through his mouth, tongue & throat. Thus this ungodly wretch has fallen in the midst of his iniquity & the vengance of God has overtaken him at last & he has met his Just deserts though by an unknown hand. This information is proclaimed through all the papers & By dispatched messengers & hand Bills through the land. Thus Boggs hath died as a fool dieth & gone to his place to receive the reward of his works.
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*Boggs was shot but did not die but has sinc recove[red] from his wounds. [1]
What strikes me about this passage (aside from Woodruff writing such a detailed entry about a death that didn’t happen) is that the entry before it Woodruff is busy preaching and the entry after it simply notes “I spent in the printing office.” What does this reveal about the culture of early Mormonism? Was this seeming attitude of divine vengeance typical of Mormons? Was it at all typical of early 19th-century American culture? Is this attitude at all prevalent in Mormonism today? I imagine most Latter-day Saints today don’t see God’s vengeful hand in others’ deaths, but are we still inclined to see the fate of others as a sign of divine involvement and judgment?
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[1] The entry can be found in Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, Typescript, ed. Scott G. Kenney (Midvale: Utah, Signature Books, 1983), 2: 176; It is also included in Waiting for the World’s End: The Diaries of Wilford Woodfruff, ed. Susan Staker (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1993), 55-56.
*The last sentence was inserted after the initial entry.
Chris: Great stuff. I’d say that this is typical of Latter-day Saint literature of the period. The Wasp published a letter to the editor calling the attempted murder of Boggs a “noble deed” (May 28, 1842). Wishing vengeance upon the Missourians was part of a complex process by which Latter-day Saints constructed their identities within biblical frameworks and narratives. Wishing vengeance and actually being bloodthirsty though are two different things. I don’t think the Mormons were bloodthirsty–but they did want God to bring vengeance upon their enemies.
Comment by David Grua — November 1, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
I think that it is hard for modern Mormons to empathize in such matters. While we maintain something of a persecution complex, living through the Missouri war and all the grand visions of Zion first hand would definately flavor one’s perspective. I think that it is not uncommon in Modern Mormonisms to spread at least some of the blame for the war to Saints. You hear things like, “The Mormons weren’t good neighbors,” or “They couldn’t live the law of consecration,” but I imagine for Saints of the period they felt genuinely victimized. With Boggs a something of a personification of the opposition to Zion, it is understandable to have such vehemence expressed. You see similar stuff during the Utah war and the polygamy persecutions.
Comment by j. stapley — November 1, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
j: I agree. Mormons from the period saw themselves completely as victims. From my survey of the persecution narratives from the 1840s and 1850s I don’t find many Mormons pointing to their own follies as causing their troubles (except during the finger pointing of the succession crisis). That type of narrative structure does begin to show up in the 1880s though, primarily with Roberts.
Comment by David Grua — November 1, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
I think this is just a human thing, the desire to see negative karma come back and pay it’s toll. Like when we see a person who is always a jerk and nod in almost satisfaction when his wife leaves him or when he gets fired. It relates to our own personal sense of justice, I’d say.
Comment by Matt W. — November 1, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
Matt: To a degree, yes. But this was also deeply ingrained into their worldview.
Comment by David Grua — November 1, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Matt W.,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your take. I think David’s right that this can’t be explained as “just a human thing.” This mentality seems to really have been ingrained in early Mormonism’s worldview for precisely the reasons that J. points out – “living through the Missouri war and all the grand visions of Zion first hand would definately flavor one?s perspective.”
Comment by Christopher — November 1, 2007 @ 3:12 pm
J.,
You’re right on about the resurfacing of this sort of discourse during the Utah War and polygamy persecutions. In fact, Woodruff himself brings up Boggs again in a couple of his journal entries during 1857 and 1858, in one entry quoting Brigham Young saying that Boggs and others should have been hung “Between the heavens & the Earth” for “expelling the Saints from the states” (journal entry for September 12, 1857).
Comment by Christopher — November 1, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
In some research I did over the summer, I found the very same theme being played out only four months after this. For almost a whole year after June ’44, almost every poem found on the last page of the Times and Seasons were devoted to the martyrdom. One of the four prominent themes was the belief that God would shortly bring judgment upon the murderers.
Comment by Ben — November 1, 2007 @ 5:52 pm
Missouri had the power to stir up strong feelings. I think that first the revelations helped create a context for these notions of righteous vengence. Section 103:24-26 (Given to organize Zion’s Camp) echoes Biblical rhetoric in saying, “And inasmuch as mine enemies come against you to drive you…even from your own lands…ye shall curse them; 25. And whomsoever ye curse, I will curse, and ye shall avenge me of mine enemies. 26. And my presence shall be with you even in avenging me of mine enemies, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”
About 8 years later, after his “joy ride” with two Missouri extradition officers, Joseph cited D&C 98 and proclaimed:
“Shall we allways bear, No. Will not the State of Missouri stay her hand in her unhallowed persecutions against the Saints; if not, I restrain you not any longer, I say in the name of Jesus Christ I this day turn the Key that opens the heavens to restrain you no longer from this time forth. I will lead you to battle & if you are not afraid to die & feel disposed to spill your Blood in your own defence you will not offend me, Be not the aggressor bear untill they strike on the one cheek offer the other & they will be sure to strike that, then defend yourselves & God shall bear you off.” (Words of Joseph Smith, 218).
I think that a legacy of tension with neighbors and lack of satisfactory redress led the people to turn to the only place where justice could come, from God. The rhetoric doesn’t let up either during similar periods of tension as has been noted. And often at such times similar scriptures are cited. So, it seems to me that this type of vengeful rhetoric colors 19th century LDS thought and discourse.
Comment by Jared — November 1, 2007 @ 9:16 pm
I am really enjoying this blog so far. This post is very timely considering the discussion that Van Hale has raised about temple oaths to pray for vengeance for martyred prophets. I have been looking into strands of Mormon thought that may have been precursory. Van Hale deals with the mature 1889 understandings and what arose during the Smoot hearings. Missouri and the reaction to Joseph and Hyrum’s death are the early manifestations worth further study. Here is a sample of a few sources:
Comment by Keller — November 2, 2007 @ 9:14 pm